Mountain lion season closes

South Dakota's mountain lion season in the Black Hills has officially ended with the harvest of a fifth breeding-age female mountain lion.

Game, Fish and Parks Wildlife Biologist Steve Griffin of Rapid City said the animal was taken around 7:15 a.m. Monday morning by a hunter specifically pursuing lions about eight miles south of Lead. The cat was estimated to be 4-5 years old, in good health and weighed in at 90 pounds.

"Hunters should note that the mountain lion season is over in the Black Hills unit and that all unfilled mountain lion tags for the Black Hills unit are no longer valid," Griffin noted.

Mountain lions can still be harvested outside of the Black Hills through Dec. 15 by landowners that have licenses that are valid on their own property.